Te Kiri Marae

yayyy family is here!!! I only got to see everyone for a little bit today bc it took them a long time to get back from the bay of islands, but we had dinner and it was great seeing them! i cant wait for tomorrow.

this weekend was okay. we stayed at a Marae.. which is like a traditional place for the Maori people.. it was one biug room, and we werent allowed to have our shoes on or eat in there or anything like that.. its very sacred. all 20 of us in the room. the food wasnt that good.. actually it was kinda horrible. the first day we got there around 4/5 ish had a traditional welcome, and ate dinner. it was cold chicken and a salad. not that good, but not terrible. half the group had to wash all the dishes, and then we came back and had to go around the room introducing ourselves and saying something about us bc there were 4 liek tour guide people who wanted to know. and thennnn we picked someones nameout of a hat and that person was our 'special friend' for the weekend. we were supossed to do noice things for them like do their dishes or make up their 'bed' (aka sleeping bag and a pillow.. very uncomfortable) i got my neightbor from last year chris so that was fun bc i knew him.. thenn we just hung out played a few little games and watched some NZ movie and went to bed. we were up early the next day.. breakfast was cold toast, watery eggs, and some granola cereal. i was on dishes duty that morning and when i came back my bed was all made for me!! yay. then we were supossed to go fishing but the weahter was no good.. so we went to a few local market things and shopped around. while i was there one ofthe girls on the trip with us, kasey, came up to me and gave me a thing of flowers ..she said my special frined asked her to give them to me!!! they were brgiht yellow and really cute. eveyone was jealous bc tori and i were the only ones that got flowers. i got chris a big choc. chip cookie bc i know he likes them bc he always used to steal them from our room last year. then we went back and had lucnh.. more gross stuff. thennn we went to this like.. bay area i guess.. and had to slpit up into 2groups.. the group i was in was 'build your own raft and then race it' group. we learned how to tie knots and then were split up into 2 more groups, of 5 each.. and had to figure out how to build a raft out of 5 things of bamboo, ropes, and 2 booey things. it was reallly hard but we figured outr a good way todo it. and then they were liek okay go test it out in the water. ps-ITS WINTER!!!! they made us like get into the pacific ocean freeeeezing cold water and see if our boat could float. it did! but then we had to figure out how to get 3 people on it.. and paddle. a lot harder than you wouldthink. i was the first one in.. totally underwater. the raft was off balance bc, well, i dont weigh that much, and there ended up being 2 girls on the other side. sooo i was freezing and miserable. and then we had to try to race it.. that was soo hard going the opposite direction of the waves on booeys and bamboo. but i paddled my little heart out.. and the raft i was on won!! and then stef fell off it, and it broke, and i was left in neck high water scrambling for my life. i finally got back on a booey and kinda floated back to the beach... im thinking thats is where i got this huge splinter in my finger that i found out i had later at dinner.. i was too involved in holding on for dear life to anything i could find that would keep me somewhat out of the water that i didnt even realize i had 2 huge scrapes on my legs and a big splinter! oh well. oh, and i forgot to mention it decided to rain on us too.
then it was time to switch, and the people that built the rafts went kayaking. that was more fun but still really cold... then we went back and changed into warm clothes.. and then went back to the Marae and took hot showrrs. only, they only have so much hot water.. and i was the last group to get in. sooo the water would be burning hot and then no water pressure and ice cold. so no fun. i took the quickest shower of my life. dinner that night was possibly the worst food i have ever eaten. it was supossed tobe hamburgers.. but they were like a centimeter thin, and crunchy. GROSS. then after dinner we went to a local bar. we just hung out and could play ping pong or pool. so we did that andthen came back and went to bed. this morning it was actually nice out.. we learned how to weave flax.. which is like a plant they have all over here. we made flowers out of it.. if you did it right they look really cool.. buttt mine ddint look right. i guess i dont have a career in weaving. then we went to Pakiri Beach which was soo much fun.. since it was nice out we all like rooled up our sweat pants or some people were in shorts and a tank top.. and played volleyball or walked around collecting shells and taking pictures and weaving bracelets. i tried to make a bracelet.. it didnt work.. so i took pictures. then we came back and everyone else had lunch. it was tuna fish.. so i had a granola bar. haha and then we went to this Kauri forest with the really tall trees again.. that was cool though bc we got to see the silver fern which is like the symbol of the rugby team. and there we also found out who everyone's special frineds were.. this girl julia had me.. she was really cute.. weote me a little note and everything! hah
thats it. we came back..i finished a paper and cleaned my room.. and then my family was here.. i showed them around my dorm a little bit.. and then took them to an italian resturant for dinner and the good ice cream place for dessert. tomorrow we are going to an island for a tour.. and then who knows. i have to be up at like 8am though and im sooo tired so im going to bed!! sorry i havent written in so long, ive been really busy! we are going to the soouth island on wed to ither friday or saturday, and then the family leaves Monday, and I head back to the South island for SPRING BREAK with my friends.. can you believe it.. spring break in Sept?! and, spring break means classes are half way done!! i feel like i just got herre and they are half way over. how crazy. okay, ill write soon!